Attachment for unraveling textile fabrics



1. BROWN. ATTACHMENT FDR UNRAVELING TEXTILE FABRICS.

APPLICATION HLED sun: 16. um. 1,305, 586. PatentedJune 3, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

1. BROWN. ATTACHMENT FOR UNRAVELING TEXTILE FABRICS.

APPLICATION FTLED IUNE \B, 1911.

Patented June 3, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2,

awuw to: Wmesjfazwr wow/n m UNITED STATES.

JAMES BROWN, QF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA-,.N SIGNOR; 0E

ONE-HALF TO CURT FEIG, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA ATTACHMENT FOR UNRAVELIN G TEXTILE FABRICS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 3, 1919.

Application filed June 18; 1917. Serial'liu. 175,282.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, JAMES BROWN, a c1t1- zen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphla and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Attachment for Unraveling Textile Fabrics,v of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an attachment for unraveling textile fabrics and has more particular relation to an attachment of this character which may be readily applied to a standard looping machine to unravel the selva-ge edge of knitted hosiery prior to the looping operation.

The principal object of the present lnvcntion is to provide an attachment of this character which is of simple, eflicient and comparatively inexpensive construction which may be readily applied tea standard form of looping machine with practically little or no alteration thereof. A fnrtherobject of the present invention resides in the providing of a cone to receive the ravelings, which cone is supported upon and rotatable in one direction with a spindle by frictional contact, whereby upon a1 predetermined unraveling of stitches, the raveling in being brought taut retards further revolution of the cone until said raveling is severed.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a vertically and reciprocally arranged device for the even distribution of the ravelingsupon the rotating cone.

A still further object of'the present invention is to provide mechanism whereby the cone for receiving the ravelings: rotates at relatively high speed Whilethe raweling distributer which isoperatedby thesame-mech anism moves at greatly reduced speed. A still further object of the present inventdon is to provide means to cause both of these mediums to be thrown out of action when desirable.

A still further object of the present invention resides in the adaptation of the attachment of the present invention to a stand ard form of looping machine whereby the looper-operating means actuates the unraveling device.

Other and further objects of the present invention reside in theproviding; of general details of constnuction and in the arrange ment and combination of parts as will be hereinafter more specifically set forth.

The invention consists of the improve ments hereinafter described and finally claimed.

The nature, characteristic features and scope of the invention will be more fully understood from the following description taken in: connection with the accompanying drawings forming pant hereof and in which:

Figiu-re 1 is a view infront elevation of the attachment of the invention, the same being shown in application to so much of a looping machine as is necessary to illustrate the principle of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of a portion of Fig. 1.

Fig: 3. is a view in section taken upon line 3-3 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. t is a detail view cally referred to.

For the purpose of illustrating my inven tion I have shown in the accompanying drawings one form thereof which isat present preferred by me, since the same hasbeen found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, although it is to be understoodtha-t the various instrumentalities of which my invention consists can be variously arranged and organized and that my invention is not limited to the precise arrangement and organization of talities as herein shown and described.

In the drawings 10 designates the bed plate of a standard form of looping machinerotatable around which in a well underslrmd manner is a ring 11 peripherally provided with the usual needle points to receli ezthe knitued goods, for instance, hosiery. As common and well known means for drivmg the looper mechanism and the present attachment are employed*, the same has not been illustrated in the drawings. 12 designates a. fixed, vertical spindle employed in a standard: looper machine and I' make use of this-spindle upon which to mount a portion of my attachment. The supporting frame of the attachment embraces an upright 13 and upper and lower, horizontal pieces, the upper piece constituting a horizontal bearmg 14 and a vertical bearing 14 and the lower piece of a. clamp 15 for fixed relation with. the spindle 12, bolts 15 being present for effecting the fixture. F itrted to the hearing 14 of upright 13 is a fixed spindle 16, see' Fig. 3. Loosely mounted upon said spindle 16 so as to be capable of free movehereinafter specifithe instrumenment therearound is a beveled gear wheel 17 SllPUl'illlPOSUd upon which, and preferably an integral part thereof, is a disk-like mem ber 18 forming a platform or support, see Fig. 4'. This gear wheel 17 is in mesh with a gear wheel 19 fixed upon the horizontal shaft 20, which latter is mounted in the bearings 11' and 14 of upright 13. Motion is imparted to this shaft fromthe looper operating mechanism (not shown) by means of a belt '22 connecting with loose pulleys 23, an endwise shiftable fast pulley 24 being present for cooperatively engaging with the loose pulley upon proper movement of the bolt 25 which is operable through that part of the attachment frame 26 connecting bearings 14 and 14 and properly connected with respect to said fast pulley. Adapted to be loosely fitted over spindle l6 and loosely seated upon the metal support 18 of gear wheel 17 is a disk-like member 27 of wood terminating in a conefrustum portion 28, there being a metal bushing 29 fitted to a central vertical opening therethrough. In practice, these parts are constructed sutliriently heavy so that the same will maintain a seating fit upon so as to rotate with the support 18 although, however, the parts may be held against rotation in a manner to be presently described. Adapted for asnugdetachable fit with the cone-frustum 28 is a hollow, conical member 30 of paper or other suitable material, the surface of which is roughened to readily receive ravelings. The bottom rim of member 30 abuts against the top of disk 27 and in practice rotates with the parts 27 and 28.

A description will now be given of the manner of using the above described parts. W'ith a fabric to be looped, for instance, a stocking, properly positioned upon the needle points of ring 11, the operator takes the extending end of the thread as is resent when the stocking has been pressed 0 the needles of a knitting machine and passes this thread to and around the cone 30 which has been previously caused to rotate with the starting of rotation of ring. 11. Unraveling of a predetermined portion of the stocking now ensues the cone rotating with the support 18 and parts 2728. Upon a predetermined quantity of thread being unraveled, the thread leading to the cone 30 becomes taut thereby holding the cone including parts 27-28 against rotation. During this time, the ring 11 has advanced the stocking to the cutter 31 which is secured to a suitable fixed part of the looper structure at which point the said thread is severed and the stocking passes to the looper mechanism, the cone 80 and parts 27-28 meanwhlle being again free to rotate with support 18.

I use in conjunction with the above described parts an attachment for facilitating the even disposal of the unraveled thread upon the cone 30, a description of which w1ll now be given. arried by the upright 13 is a bracket 32 having a horizontally disposed stud-shaft 33 fixed upon which is :L gear wheel 34 and a pinion 35 of which the gear wheel 34 meshes with a pinion 5313 fixed to the shaft 20 and of which pinion 35} is in mesh with a gear wheel 37 of large diameter.

The gear wheel 37 is fixed upon a shaft 238 rotaiably supported at one end by support 18 and at its opposite end by a bearing 89 forming part of the clamp 15. Shaft 38hus fixed thereto a crank arm 4-0 provided with a horizontally disposed pin 41 which works in the slotted portion 42 of a vertically movable cross-head 42'. This cross-head is guided by a vertically disposed post -13 supported by an upright 44 clamped to the bedplate 1.0 of the looper machine. Removably fixed in a socket 45 of the cross head -12 is a. vertically arranged spindle 46 adjustably carried at the top of which is a sleeve 17 provided with a horizontally disposed ring 48 concentrically arranged with respect in the winding head or cone 30. This ring 48 serves to evenly distribute a thread, as imraveled around the winding head or cone 80 in the up and down movement of the spindle 46 as actuated by the cross-head through the instrumentality of the rotating shaft 88 and crank-arm 40. In this connection, it may be stated the gear wheels 373l and pinions 3336 are of such ratio that the speed of the shaft 38 is much slower than is the speed of shaft 20, so that While the cone 30 is rapidly rotated, the reciprocal movement of ring 48 is comparatively slow.

It will now be apparent that I have devised a novel and useful construction which embodies the features of advantage enumerated as desirable in the statement of the invention and the above description and while I have in the present instance shown and described the preferred embodiment thereof which has been found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, it is to be understood that the same is susceptible of modification in various particulars without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention or sacrificing any of its advanta es.

hat I claim is:

1. An attachment of the character stated comprising a fixed spindle, a winding-head support rotatable thereon, means for driving said support, a winding-head member seated upon said support so as to rotate therewith by frictional contact during a raveling period, but adapted to resist rotation at predetermined intervals upon a raveling being rendered taut, a cone-frustum fixed with respect to said member and a cone to receive the ravelings detachably fitted over said cone-frustum.

2. An attachment as described in claim 1 characterized by a cutter operative to sever a taut raveling to reestablish rotation of the winding-head.

3. An att-aclnnent as described in claim 2 characterized by means operative to prevent rotation of said winding-head independently of the predetermined intervals stated.

4. An attachment as described in claim 1 characterized by reciprocally disposed means actuated by the winding-head drive for promoting an even distribution of the ravelings upon the said winding-head.

5. An attachment as described in claim 4 characterized by means for rotating the winding-head at a speed greatly in excess of the reciprocal speed of said raveling distributer.

6. An attachment of the character stated embracing a fixed spindle, a Winding-head support rotatable thereon, means for driving said support and a Winding-head seated upon said support so as to rotate therewith by frictional contact, said Winding-head consisting of a disk-like member terminating in a cone-frustum having detachably fitted thereover a cone.

7. An attachment as described in claim 6 characterized by a metallic winding-head support, a non-metallic disk-like member and cone-frustum and a metallic bushing fitted Within the non-metallic parts.

8. In apparatus of the character stated the combination of a fixed upright, a ver tical spindle fixed thereto, a Winding-head support rotatable thereon, a Winding-head consisting of a friction member and a conefrustum seated upon said support, a horizontally disposed upper shaft carried by the upright operative for driving said support, a horizontally disposed lower shaft also carried by the upright, means operatively con necting the said shafts, a vertically reciprocal raveling distributer for the drivinghead and actuating means between said lower shaft and said distributer.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name.

JAMES BROlVN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. 0. 

